Wednesday, 3 April 2013

Genting Highlands (240313 - 260313)

As promised! Short overseas trip number 1!

This trip was booked last minute, less than a week ago, and we were lucky to still have seats available. However, the price was at S$138, a huge increase from the previous S$88, about two years ago. However, one of its plus point would be we're travelling there via their Super VIP coach. Checked-in at Golden Mile @ 0700H, and off we go for our short getaway to Genting Highlands!

Exchange Rate was at SGD$1 = RM$2.463

Anyway, we did not expect the bus ride to be so long. We set off from Golden Mile at about 0700H, and we reached Genting at close to 1500H. It was a more-than-seven-hours-long ride with only two stops in-between, excluding the Tuas Checkpoint of course! The bus journey on the way there previously was only a mere 6 hours.

Our bus - the Super VIP coach

The bus will stop at a small restaurant at YongPeng to allow you to have some light refreshments and a short toilet break before entering Kuala Lumpur.

DAY 1:

Checked-in upon reaching, and luckily there wasn't a long queue at the counters. The entire process took less than 15mins and we were given a room at level 7, Tower 2.

The views from our room

Had a quick shower and proceeded to the strawberry farm, for fear they might close early on a Sunday. Took the cable car down, before switching to a taxi to the farm.

Take-off and the view seems to be clear

Upon reaching a certain point, the haze seems to worsen the view in front of your car

In view of the destination

While proceeding to the bus/taxi stand, wild monkeys could be seen loitering around, enjoying the breeze and stares.

As mentioned, we took a cab to the Strawberry Farm, which took less than 10mins. From the cab driver, the farm is situated at Gohtong Jaya (pardon my spelling).

Rows and rows of strawberries could be seen, many of them surrounded by fences, inaccessible to the public. However, there is an area where you could try pick your own strawberries for a price! At RM$8/100gm, you can pick your own strawberries for your enjoyment. On the other hand, these strawberries that you've picked, can only be kept up to two days to maintain its freshness!

A portion of the picked strawberries!

The strawberry farm also includes an area where local flowers such as lavender, roses are being grown.

Teabreak includes a locally-made ice-cream cake at RM$7.50. Apart from the strawberry farm, the place also sells different kinds of local foods, souvenirs, etc.

Approaching dinnertime, we had our dinner at the local seafood restaurant, just a stone's throw away from the farm. There were many Singaporeans having their dinner over there as well. For transport back to the hotel, fret not, just inform the owner of the restaurant that you need a cab, and he will get one almost immediately. From the restaurant to the hotel, takes about 15mins cab ride, costing RM$20.

We finished the day off by visiting the casino.

DAY 2:

Breakfast was at Mcdonald's, tapping their restaurant's wifi. We found that we were glued to our screens for close to 15mins or so, and declared ourselves social media addicts.

That not-enough-sleep face

Went on to the outdoor theme park after breakfast, and it's probably the school holidays over there, which makes every ride a wait about 30 to 45 mins. Especially the "Grand Prix" ride, which makes Yanjun so excited about, a good long wait of close to an hour. The theme park was due to close at 10PM on that day.

Evening on the pirate ship

Lunch was at the Food Market, similar to the one at Resorts World Sentosa, and the prices there are exorbitant! A simple meal consisting of chicken rice & Bak Kut Teh, costs about S$30!

After lunch, we were too lazy to queue up for the rides again. Henceforth, went walking around at the mall and tried out the archery booth located near the bowling alley. Prices were RM$16 for 2pax with several arrows each.

Old Town Cafe for dinner and that basically sums up day 2!

DAY 3:

Breakfast at Kopitiam (located just beside the bowling alley), and we proceeded to set off back to Singapore at 1100H. Similarly, the ride back was close to 8 hours! Never ever gonna take Grassland again, GRAH!